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Mean Mikey
'''Mean Mikey''' '''"Mean Mikey" '''is the debut single by English singer-songwriter [http://michael-mikey-brennan.wikia.com/wiki/Michael_Mikey_Brennan Michael Mikey Brennan.] Featuring [http://michael-mikey-brennan.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Croft Mr. Croft] who provided additional vocals and keyboard for the song and co-wrote and co-produced the song alongside Brennan. The song was released on October 5, 2012 on Brennan's [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube YouTube] channel.Michael Mikey Brennan - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube YouTube] Channel [https://www.youtube.com/michaelmikeybrennan] The song was mainly inspired by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons The Simpsons] 1990 single "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_the_Bartman Do The Bartman]" by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Cartwright Nancy Cartwright] (the voice of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Simpson Bart Simpson]).[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Cartwright Nancy Cartwright] ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Simpson Bart Simpson]) - "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_the_Bartman Do The Bartman]" (from the album, "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons_Sing_the_Blues The Simpsons Sing the Blues]") [https://open.spotify.com/track/3QqcE0U4RE3MQbmJfD1tsO] It was also inspired by "Too Cool For School" - a song from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrid_Henry:_The_Movie Horrid Henry: The Movie] (2011) performed by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Stevenson Theo Stevenson] who played [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrid_Henry Horrid Henry] in the film.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Stevenson Theo Stevenson] ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrid_Henry Horrid Henry]) "Too Cool For School" From [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrid_Henry:_The_Movie Horrid Henry: The Movie] (2011) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kckLV8ExDZs] The song features Horrid Henry and Michael Jackson references (particularly towards Michael Jackson's song '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_(Michael_Jackson_song) Bad]', Brennan uses the catchphrases: "Who's bad?" and "I'm bad!" in the song. He also uses the Michael Jackson noise, "Ow!" in parts of the song as well). The lyric, "Turn up the music, my iPods stuck on replay" is a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyaz Iyaz]' song '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replay_(Iyaz_song) Replay]', the lyric, "I'm a changed man now, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Brown Chris Brown]!" is a lyric that was previously used in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dappy Dappy]'s 2011 song, '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Regrets_(Dappy_song) No Regrets]' and the lyric, "Never be anything but a singer-songwriter" was previously used in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Sheeran Ed Sheeran]'s 2011 song, '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Need_Me,_I_Don%27t_Need_You You Need Me, I Don't Need You]'. The song was released as an online single on October 5, 2012 and was also released on Brennan's [http://michael-mikey-brennan.wikia.com/wiki/Michael_Mikey_Brennan_%28Album%29 debut self-titled album] released June 1, 2015. As well as being Brennan's first single, it is also the first installment to what became known as "The Michael Mikey Brennan & Mr. Croft Trilogy" (or "The Mikey & Mr. Croft Trilogy" for short). The trilogy features 'Mean Mikey' and two other songs 'A Dream' and 'Can't You See Me' which Brennan and Croft wrote and recorded after 'Mean Mikey'. '''Background ''' The song is about a character called, Mean Mikey which was mainly inspired by Brennan as a person, implying that Mean Mikey is Michael Mikey Brennan, but it was also inspired by other characters such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrid_Henry Horrid Henry ]and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Simpson Bart Simpson], Brennan has stated that: "Mean Mikey is what you get if you mix Horrid Henry with Bart Simpson". Menacing characters like [http://firemansam.wikia.com/wiki/Norman_Price Norman Price] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireman_Sam Fireman Sam], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_the_Menace_(UK) Dennis the Menace] and [http://btb.wikia.com/wiki/Spud Spud] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_the_Builder Bob the Builder], [http://horridhenry.wikia.com/wiki/Rude_Ralph Rude Ralph] from Horrid Henry and [http://pixar.wikia.com/wiki/Sid_Phillips Sid Phillips] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Story Toy Story] also inspired the character. "Mean Mikey" was originally a full length book written and illustrated by Brennan, inspired by the idea of the 'Horrid Henry' books written by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesca_Simon Francesca Simon] and '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beano The Beano]' comic books published by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Thomson DC Thomson]. The book was published, but not internationally. Although Brennan claims that it was never published as said in the music video commentary video of 'Mean Mkey' spoken over by Brennan and Croft, Brennan's teacher from at the time Patricia "Pat" Whitby confirmed that it was, but not internationally. Whitby's partner Mark Standen was the man who published the book. The song was originally meant to be a promotional song to promote the book. Brennan however, did not want to be known as an author, stating that: "I'd much rather be a singer than an author. I love writing stories, but it's more of a hobby whilst music is a passion". When creating the character and book Brennan was mainly inspired and motivated by what he watched on TV at the time and when he was a child such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartoon cartoons] like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons The Simpsons], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpongeBob_SquarePants SpongeBob SquarePants], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooby-Doo Scooby-Doo], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugrats Rugrats], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_(TV_series) Arthur], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_Duel_Monsters Yu-Gi-Oh!], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_GX Yu-Gi-Oh! GX], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_the_Menace_and_Gnasher_(2009_TV_series) Dennis & Gnasher] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry Tom and Jerry] films he watched at the time and as a child such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney Disney] films like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinocchio_(1940_film) Pinocchio], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbo Dumbo], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jungle_Book_(1967_film) The Jungle Book], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi Bambi], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_and_One_Dalmatians One Hundred And One Dalmatians], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Hound The Fox and the Hound], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_and_the_Tramp Lady and the Tramp], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aristocats The Aristocrats], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarzan_(1999_film) Tarzan], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Bear Brother Bear], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_(1992_Disney_film) Aladdin,] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie_the_Pooh_(franchise) Winnie the Pooh], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixar Pixar] films like the Toy Story films, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_Nemo Finding Nemo], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredibles The Incredibles], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratatouille_(film) Ratatouille], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters,_Inc. Monsters Inc.], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(2009_film) Up]. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DreamWorks_Animation Dreamworks Animation] films like the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrek_(franchise) Shrek] films, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar_(franchise) Madagascar] films, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flushed_Away Flushed Away], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_Tale Shark Tale] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_the_Hedge_(film) Over the Hedge] and books he read like the 'Horrid Henry' books, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl Roald Dahl] books like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_and_the_Giant_Peach James and the Giant Peach], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_BFG The BFG], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twits The Twits], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giraffe_and_the_Pelly_and_Me The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_and_the_Chocolate_Factory Charlie and the Chocolate Factory], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia The Chronicles of Narnia] book series by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis C.S. Lewis], '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh]' by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._A._Milne A.A. Mile] and '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddington_Bear Paddington Bear]' by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bond Michael Bond], as well as books that he was studying at the time at school in his English classes. Brennan also confessed that he got the idea for the plot of the story after seeing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrid_Henry:_The_Movie Horrid Henry: The Movie] at the cinema in summertime 2011. Although, he had planned to write a 'Mean Mikey' book for years due to growing up in the era when the Horrid Henry books were popular, but it was the movie that inspired him to write a full length book. At the time of the song's origination era Brennan was into a lot of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music pop music] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_music dance music] like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson Michael Jackson], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_pop teen pop] music like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Bieber Justin Bieber,] boy bands like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jackson_5 The Jackson 5], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JLS JLS], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wanted The Wanted] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Direction One Direction], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_R%26B R&B] music like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Timberlake Justin Timberlake], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usher_(musician) Usher], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olly_Murs Olly Murs], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Kingston Sean Kingston], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taio_Cruz Taio Cruz] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Brown Chris Brown], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapping rap] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop hip hop] music like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminem Eminem], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rizzle_Kicks Rizzle Kicks], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitbull_(rapper) Pitbull], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludacris Ludacris] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinie_Tempah Tinie Tempah], singer-songwriters like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Sheeran Ed Sheeran] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Mars Bruno Mars], and a lot of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_music rock music] especially [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_rock Alternative rock] like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_of_Leon Kings of Leon.] Elements of pop, dance, R&B, rap, hip-hop and teen pop music inspired the song. Albums he listened to at the time were '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_(album) Bad]' and '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller Thriller]' by Jackson and '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_World_(EP) My World]', '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_World_2.0 My World 2.0].' and '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Worlds_Acoustic My Worlds Acoustic]' by Bieber (hence the lyric, "Listening to Michael Jackson and Justin Bieber all night long" in the song. It also explains why the song features references towards Jackson's songs '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Jean Billie Jean]' and '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_(Michael_Jackson_song) Bad]'), '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%2B_(Ed_Sheeran_album) +]' by Sheeran, '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doo-Wops_%26_Hooligans Doo-Wops and Hooligans]' by Mars, '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_by_the_Night Only By the Night'] by Kings of Leon, '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc-Overy Disc-Overy]' by Tempah, '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Case_You_Didn%27t_Know In Case You Didn't Know]' by Murs, '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo_Typical Stereo Typical]' by Rizzle Kicks, '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.A.M.E._(album) F.A.M.E]' by Brown and the Horrid Henry movie soundtrack. Brennan has stated that: "At the time of the 'Mean Mikey' era, apart from Michael Jackson, I was listening to a lot of cheesy stuff!" '''Music Video''' '''References'''